KeyBank will close its Helper Main Street office

KeyBank is closing its Helper branch and will consolidate its operations in the Price branch.

Jack Sparks, KeyBank vice president and interim external communications director, stated that the move is "purely a business decision based on customer traffic and should in no way be perceived as a negative reflection on this community or the performance of the employees Key has there."

Two positions have been eliminated, one part-time and one full-time. These people have been invited to apply for openings at other KeyBank locations in Utah, Sparks said. A third employee will transfer to Price.

When the doors close, it will mark the end of a century of banking at that location. It began with the founding of Helper State Bank in 1914. Prominent businessman and town president Joseph Barboglio founded the bank and constructed the original building. It stood between the A.D. Sutton drug store and Tokyo Restaurant. It was rebuilt after a devastating fire destroyed much of downtown Helper in 1919.

Commercial Security Bank acquired HSB in 1978. Ten years later, KeyBank acquired CSB. The Helper branch was part of that transaction.